Brazil World Cup Final Venue Opens After Delays, Cost Overruns

By Tariq Panja and David Biller -
Apr 27, 2013

Brazil’s President Dilma Rouseff
was among those present today for the reopening of the stadium
that will host next year’s World Cup final, after a three-year
renovation program blighted by delays and cost overruns.

The Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, one of soccer’s most well-
known stadiums, hosted an exhibition match featuring teams
captained by former Brazil World Cup winners Ronaldo and Bebeto
in front of a reduced 28,000-capacity crowd.

“I’m so happy today,” said Aristides Teles, 59, who
sported a replica of the old stadium atop his head and mustache
painted yellow and green. “When Brazil plays whichever country
in the World Cup here I’m going to celebrate like a winner
because i’ll get to see Brazil become champion in the new
Maracana.”

The stadium was originally designed for the 1950 World Cup
-- the only occasion record five-time world champion Brazil
hosted the most-watched sports event -- and will also be used
for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 summer
Olympics.

The almost $500-million renovation cost is among the
controversies to have hit the stadium project, which have also
included criticism over plans to privatize the site and delays
in getting work completed. Construction workers continued work
outside the venue yesterday.

The stadium, which is expected to have a capacity of about
80,000 spectators, had been slated to be ready in December.

The opening was delayed after the stadium’s roof had to be
rebuilt and a new deadline imposed by organizers of the
Confederations Cup, a World Cup warm-up event that starts in
June, was set for April 15. That deadline was missed too,
meaning the only full-scale match scheduled before the start of
the tournament will be a June 2 exhibition game between Brazil’s
national team and England.

“We have to trust that there has been sufficient
oversight throughout the process and that the roof is not going
to fall down,” Chris Gaffney, visiting professor at the
Graduate School of Architecture and Urbanism at Brazil’s
Universidade Federal Fluminense, said by telephone yesterday.

The Maracana was the setting for the 1950 World Cup final
between Brazil and Uruguay, where defeat for the hosts is still
described as a national tragedy.